Damage Symptoms and Control Methods of the Ganoderma moth

The Ganoderma moth, scientific name Hapsifera barbata Christoph, belongs to the order Lepidoptera, family Tineidae. Also known as the wood-boring worm, its larvae bore into and feed on polypore fungi. In recent years in the Jiangsu area, it has been found causing damage on the culture media and fruiting bodies of log-cultivated Ganoderma, Armillaria mushroom logs, substitute-substrate Ganoderma and oyster mushrooms.

Damage characteristics: on soil-cased Ganoderma, the moth bores into the fruiting body, feeds on the contents, and excretes frass onto the surface of the fruiting body; in severe outbreaks, it can eat the fruiting body completely bare.

Morphological characteristics

Adult body length 5-7 mm, wingspan 14-20 mm, body grayish white, with pale white bristles on the top of the head, thread-like antennae, yellow-brown compound eyes surrounded by scales, and several rows of upturned grayish white scales on the forewings forming 3 yellow bands. The labial palps are relatively long, densely covered with grayish white long hairs, and slightly raised.

Eggs 0.6-0.8 mm long, nearly spherical, milky white, with a very thin cotton-like silk covering on the surface.

Larva body length 18-23 mm, width 1.8-2 mm, milky white when newly hatched, turning blue-yellow to pale green when mature, with a brown-black head, 6 white simple eyes on each side, and brown antennae.

Pupa 7-8 mm long, 1.9-2.1 mm wide, brown, with a row of brown spines at both the front and rear ends of the dorsal surface of abdominal segments 2-6; the front row is large and sparse, the rear row small and dense. On the dorsal surface of abdominal segments 7-9, only the front end bears a row of spines; the rear end of the abdomen has 1 pair of brown protrusions on the dorsal side, and 1 pair of light brown protrusions on each side, each bearing 1 long hair, while the ventral side has 2 pairs of smaller brown protrusions.

Occurrence pattern: the silk-feeding tineid moth has two generations per year in the Jiangsu area. It overwinters as larvae, becomes active in March of the following year, adults of the second generation appear in July-August, and August-October is the peak damage period of the second-generation larvae. When the temperature drops below 11°C, the larvae begin to spin silk and bind it together with frass and the culture medium to make a cocoon; when the temperature rises back to 14°C, the larvae resume feeding. The suitable temperature for moth activity is 14-30°C; when the average temperature is 25°C and the relative humidity is 80%, eggs are laid in inoculation holes or in cracks in the bark of mushroom logs. The egg stage is 7-8 days, the larval stage 45-48 days, the pupal stage 17-20 days, and the adult stage 7-9 days. The moth is usually active at night and hides during the day in shaded places on the mushroom logs; adults are not good at flying far, begin mating 3-4 days after emergence, and lay eggs after 1-2 days. Female moths live 7-9 days, males 6-8 days.

Control methods

(1) Strengthen cultivation management, shorten the fruiting period, remove waste, and eliminate overwintering sources of the pest.

(2) Based on the habits of the silk-feeding tineid moth, carry out manual capture and killing.

(3) Chemical control: when an outbreak is severe, spray with 40% omethoate 500-1000 times dilution, 2.5% deltamethrin 1000-2000 times dilution, 20% fenvalerate 1000-2000 times dilution, or rotenone extract 800-1000 times dilution.

Commonly used pesticides: omethoate, deltamethrin, fenvalerate, rotenone extract.